Whole Foods Market to open first Bay Area 365 store in Concord in December

Updated 3:34 pm, Thursday, September 21, 2017

Photo: Patrick T. Fallon, Bloomberg

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Strawberries are stacked up for the opening day of the Whole Foods Market 365 store in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles in 2016. The company is now opening its first Bay Area 365 location in Concord.

Strawberries are stacked up for the opening day of the Whole Foods Market 365 store in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles in 2016. The company is now opening its first Bay Area 365 location in Concord.

Photo: Patrick T. Fallon, Bloomberg

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Gallon of organic milk

Whole Foods: $5.99

Trader Joe's: $5.49

Whole Foods introduced lower prices on Aug. 28, 2017. SFGATE investigated how the grocery chain's prices now compare with those at Trader Joe's.

Gallon of organic milk

Whole Foods: $5.99

Trader Joe's: $5.49

Whole Foods introduced lower prices on Aug. 28, 2017. SFGATE investigated how the grocery chain's prices now compare with those at Trader Joe's.

Photo: Amy Graff

Image 4 of 15

Conventional avocados

Whole Foods: $1.49

Trader Joe's: $2.29

Whole Foods introduced lower prices on Aug. 28, 2017. SFGATE investigated how the grocery chain's prices now compare with those at Trader Joe's.

Conventional avocados

Whole Foods: $1.49

Trader Joe's: $2.29

Whole Foods introduced lower prices on Aug. 28, 2017. SFGATE investigated how the grocery chain's prices now compare with those at Trader Joe's.

Photo: Amy Graff

Image 5 of 15

Organic large brown eggs

Whole Foods: $3.99

Trader Joe's: $3.69

Whole Foods introduced lower prices on Aug. 28, 2017. SFGATE investigated how the grocery chain's prices now compare with those at Trader Joe's.

Organic large brown eggs

Whole Foods: $3.99

Trader Joe's: $3.69

Whole Foods introduced lower prices on Aug. 28, 2017. SFGATE investigated how the grocery chain's prices now compare with those at Trader Joe's.

Photo: Amy Graff

Image 6 of 15

Whole wheat and all-purpose flour

Whole Foods: $3.29

Trader Joe's: $2.99

Whole Foods introduced lower prices on Aug. 28, 2017. SFGATE investigated how the grocery chain's prices now compare with those at Trader Joe's.

Whole Foods introduced lower prices on Aug. 28, 2017. SFGATE investigated how the grocery chain's prices now compare with those at Trader Joe's.

Almond butter, 454 grams

Whole Foods: $6.99

Trader Joe's: $5.99

Whole Foods introduced lower prices on Aug. 28, 2017. SFGATE investigated how the grocery chain's prices now compare with those at Trader Joe's.

Photo: Amy Graff

Image 15 of 15

Organic tomato sauce

Whole Foods: $1.69

Trader Joe's: $1.49

Whole Foods introduced lower prices on Aug. 28, 2017. SFGATE investigated how the grocery chain's prices now compare with those at Trader Joe's.

Organic tomato sauce

Whole Foods: $1.69

Trader Joe's: $1.49

Whole Foods introduced lower prices on Aug. 28, 2017. SFGATE investigated how the grocery chain's prices now compare with those at Trader Joe's.

Photo: Amy Graff

Whole Foods Market to open first Bay Area 365 store in Concord in December

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Whole Foods Market announced that it will open the first Northern California location of its new lower-priced chain, Whole Foods Market 365, in Concord on Dec. 6. The company has already opened six 365 stores, which are smaller and have more grab-and-go options than its traditional supermarkets.

The news comes just a few weeks after Amazon’s purchase of the upscale grocery store became final and it lowered prices on many supermarket items, which led to a reported 25 percent increase in foot traffic for the first two days post-acquisition, according to data from Foursquare.

In an interview with The Chronicle in May, Whole Foods co-founder and CEO John Mackey described the 365 model aimed at being competitive with Trader Joe’s, Ralphs and other major supermarkets. The name comes from its in-house generic brand, 365.

Unlike traditional Whole Foods Markets, which have seafood, deli and cheese counters, the new stores will be designed for almost all self-service, Mackey said, lowering labor costs.

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“That allows us to price far more aggressively,” said Mackey, adding that the smaller size means lower capital investment per store, too.

The opening of a 365 location in the Bay Area has been highly anticipated since the company signed a lease to take over the former Lombardi Sports location at Polk and Jackson streets in San Francisco in December 2015. That deal faced opposition from Supervisor Aaron Peskin, and a San Francisco 365 has yet to open. The company also has been in talks to open a location in Oakland.

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